diy project: knitting needle case

March is our favorite time of year for two things: 1. organizing and 2. knitting. In theory, we’d like to start knitting in the fall to prepare for holiday gifts and the winter months ahead, but it always seems to be the busiest time of year, and sometimes it just isn’t practical to start knitting a sweater on size-4 needles in the middle of November. As we start to get a little stir crazy waiting for spring (for those of us in winter climates, it often doesn’t come for another month or even two, if we’re especially unlucky!), we continue to cozy up at home and start our spring cleaning. In a moment of energized organizing, we made ourselves these knitting-needle cases to arrange and store knitting needles. No more rubber bands holding together unmarked double-pointed needles! No more mismatched pairs! This is so easy to make and so handy to have that we’re thinking about making them as party favors for the “Hunt, Gather and Host” knitting party we’re hosting for friends next week (stay tuned!) – bbbcraft sisters

1. Cut a piece of canvas 21.5” wide by 35” long. Iron with a hot iron.

2. Across the top and bottom 21.5” wide edges, use twill tape to create an edge. Fold in half over the edge, pin in place and sew with a sewing machine.

3. Fold canvas in half so that the twill-tape edges line up, and then pull the top layer down so that there is 3” between the two edges, with the twill tape slightly lower than the top edge.

4. Fold in half again with the twill edges on top and once again, pull the top two layers down about 2.5”. You should have a piece that is about 11” long with three sections. Iron and place pins around the edges, if necessary, to hold in place.

5. Measure 0.5” in on both sides and make a small dot with a pencil. Draw a line from the top to the bottom on either side. From the dot on the left, make a dot every 1.5” until you reach the right-hand dot. There should be a total of 15 dots, which will create 14 vertical sections with a small pocket for double-pointed needles and a longer pocket behind for longer needles. Draw faint lines from the bottom fold to the top of the second twill tape to create guides for sewing.

6. To add the wrap to tie around the case, cut a piece of twill tape 44” long. Slide the end of the tape between the bottom two layers of the needle case. (You may need to pin this to hold it in place. The sewing machine may prefer no pins, however, in which case, just hold it in place, and sew slowly!) Using a contrasting color thread, sew along the far right and left edges, using the lines you drew. We used dark gray, but it would be cute to use a bright color here!

7. Using white or cream thread, sew along the rest of your hand-drawn lines, stopping just at the top of the top twill-tape edge. Now you have your needle pockets.

8. Using rubber stamps and the stamp pad color of your choice, stamp numbers (plus “c” for crochet hook and “s” for scissors, if you like!) along the bottom to mark needle sizes.

Comments

I just finished making this and it came out great! It took me about 3 hours. I made a few changes-instead of twill tape, I used some dark green wide ribbon. For the 21.5” ends, I edged them in dark purple ribbon. Finally, I used more purple ribbon for the tie. Since I don’t have number stamps, I numbered the pockets in roman numerals. It was a fun project, not too challenging but not so easy that it was boring, the materials weren’t expensive (I probably spent $10 on fabric & already had the stamps), and it’s really useful. Thanks for posting these instructions!

I found this pattern some time ago and I finally made it. I am so impressed with it and absolutely love it! I bought the painters cloth for less than $6 and have enough left over to make several of these cases. I did zigzag the edges all the way around first and then trimmed the loose threads. I was surprised it actually gave the edges a finished look that is in keeping with the overall look. For the tie I used some 3/8 inch brown grosgrain ribbon I had on hand.
Thanks so much for a great pattern. Now I want one for my circular needles. Thank you again.

I’m going to try this. Thinking about adding a second layer at the bottom to reinforce where the needle points hit–as added insurance. Also will make another set of pockets so I can have short and long regular needles and sock and regular dpn spaces, and will make smaller pockets at the left and wider pockets where the 9s, 10s, 11s will fit. I have an old one where the pockets are all the same size and it’s too crowded on the right side so those needles get individual pockets. That one has a top flap to fold over to keep the needles from sliding out the top–something else I might do…

Thanks for posting this tutorial. My daughter and daughter-in-law have just taken an interest in knitting so I have made them one each for a birthday present. I used brightly coloured cotton drill fabric and it looks great. I was concerned I may not be great with the stitching for the needle pockets so I used invisible thread – it worked a treat. Would love to add photos but cannot see how to do that. Thanks again

I made three of these for Christmas gifts, two years ago. I used brightly printed canvas lined with muslin which gave them finished edges. They were a huge hit! I’ve been asked to adapt the pattern for hairdressing combs, this year. Thanks “sew much” for posting this pattern!

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